"I insist," I said.

They closed their eyes. When they opened them, I beheld the transformation. Before me were a hefty, slack-jawed man carrying a yoke of buckets who was the local village idiot, a sallow-faced man with a long nose I recognized as a tax collector, and a cow.

"Um, almost," I said. I perched a hip on the edge of the table and gestured to them to sit down. "Let's try again."

Using pictures conjured up by Bunny on her PDA, Bytina, I managed to point out images of Klahds who were not too limited, not too unpopular, and a bit more sentient than their first choices. Jinetta, Pologne and Freezia squabbled over who would wear what appearance, jumping from one image to another. They couldn't seem to make up their minds. I held my impatience for a few minutes.

"Look, you be that milkmaid," Freezia said. "She's taller than I am."

"Hey," I tried to interrupt.

"No, I'd rather be that burgher," Pologne said. "You be the milkmaid."

"Oh, she's so boring! Look at those wooden clogs!"

"Make up your minds, and let's go," I put in. They ignored me.

"That male in the tights showed some fashion," Jinetta said thoughtfully.

I pushed my way in between them and loomed over them. I pointed at each of my 'apprentices' in turn.

"Fine. Jinetta, you get to be the male in tights. Pologne, you're the burgher. Freezia, you get to be the lady in the blue

veil. Chop, chop! Last one into her disguise is a rotten egg!" I clapped my hands.

Donning my own disguise, that of a cadaverous-faced master magician that served me better than my own fresh-faced boyish appearance, I swept toward the exit. I listened behind me as they fell into line. I expected some grumbling, but there was none. They accepted my authority without question. I didn't know whether to feel confident about that trust, or worried. Bunny held onto Gleep's collar as she waved me a cynical farewell from the doorway.